Wool Bomber: Burda 6478 Jacket Review

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First post-baby project done and dusted! (A month ago and just getting to writing it up now, but never mind).

This little jacket is a pink wool bomber which I would have laughed at you for telling me I would make it a year ago, but here we are. I saw this jacket on Cuyana and weirdly loved it so much.

Then I saw it’s price tag and was like ‘oh come on really’. Yes, I know wool cashmere and all, but that’s $375 for an unlined jacket! So I did this (pretend there’s a better smile):

I had this rosey pink wool crepe living in my stash. It’s previously been made into a shift dress that I no longer wear because those were early sewing days and I hadn’t yet figured out my style or decent pattern selection.

Any who, the rest of the yardage has been sitting around for a few years because who needs four yards of dusty rose crepe?! (Dear past sewing self: Fabric Mart sales are not always the answer).

I hunted around for a good bomber jacket pattern, because see above about never thinking I would make one and came back with this from Burda.

I also really liked this McCall’s/Beaute J’adore collabo — and especially that it had a conventional shoulder seam rather than raglan treatment — but I’m generally not on the super-statement sleeve train and I didn’t want to figure out how to fold out all those pleats so Burda it was.

To that end: I didn’t adjust anything here except shortening the sleeves 1/2″ and taking it in 1/2″ at the side and underarm seams to reduce the volume a bit.

Generally I love a good flat pattern adjustment, but time is more limited these days and I really, really wanted to finish this before a California trip last month. Sooooo, I cut a straight size 14 WITHOUT EVEN TRACING THE PATTERN FIRST, and fused some pro-weft light from Fashion Sewing Supply onto the back of all my pieces to give them a bit of structure. I used some pale peachy silk crepe for the lining — also from the stash. It’d be really great if I could keep consuming from the stash long enough to free up some closet space…

The pattern is super easy and putting it together went by quickly. Two weird things: unless I’m a complete dunce and really cocked up the sewing, you need 1-inch elastic for the waist and sleeve hems, not 1.5” as recommended with the pattern. And I’d recommend lengthening the lining pieces. The lining was doing that annoying thing where it tugs the hem up inside of the garment. I used scant seam allowances between the jacket and lining to relax that problem a bit, but would generally recommend just adding a bit of length. Come to think of it, this might resolve the elastic width problem, but I can’t be sure.

I didn’t like the zippered pockets, so I used single welts process included in this book instead and am happy with that decision.

If I were to make it again — with pre-baby ideas of striving for fitting perfection — I’d go down in size, do a full bust adjustment and lengthen the torso by about an inch below the bust. (The raglan sleeve sort of sits above where my shoulders are, and if I walk around with my hands in my pockets, all of the strain is on the neck seam — not the shoulders at all. I think that’s because the jacket is too big in the shoulders but idk to be honest. Raglans are something of a mystery to me.)

But I was itchy to sew something and just couldn’t be bothered for this version. I love the jacket and I wear it all the time now. With the color and the choice of wool, it works in both casual and slightly less casual settings. It doesn’t really work over this one-shoulder dress at a wedding, but Cali was unexpectedly cold and so what are you going to do. I wish I had a pic of our first time dressed up post baby, but we were too frazzled to remember to take photos!

Hmm. I do remember something not being right, now that you mention it, but I also remember that it was okay once I unpicked and thought about it a different way. I’m sorry I can’t remember now what the exact problem was.

At the time I blamed it on new baby brain, but maybe there’s a labeling issue with the pattern.